Bar Leaders Ask Congress To Boost LSC Funding

The Blog of the Legal Times is reporting that the presidents of 61 state and territorial bar associations and their counterparts at five national bar associations have sent a letter to Congress asking for increased funding for the Legal Services Corp. The bar leaders say more funds are needed to cover a growing gap in aid that has been confirmed by recent studies. For example, according to a 2009 report, LSC programs will not be able to meet the legal needs of about 944,000 poor people seeking assistance in 2009, slightly more people than the programs served in 2008. In one category -- foreclosures -- LSC-funded programs were projected to turn away two for every person served. Programs also would take up fewer than half of the requests for help with employment and family law matters, according to the report. For more on this story go to the Blog of the Legal Times (here).